A Volunteer’s Guide to Working with the Homeless

This guide should prepare volunteers to more effectively cope with the challenges presented by the homeless. It provides an overall picture of what it means to be homeless, guidelines for relating and assessing this population, and basic self-protection techniques. Unshaven dirty old men huddled in doorways and strange-looking women with several layers of clothing and with numerous shopping bags filled to the brim picking through trash baskets for a scrap to eat-these are pictures many volunteers have of the homeless. To some, the idea that the homeless want to live this way seems realistic; to others, the idea that they are all mentally ill seems feasible. To some, the population is revolting; to others, it is the group to which they wish to direct their volunteer efforts. For those who choose to work with this special popula-tion two things are certain for success in their endeavors. They must have an under-standing of what it means to be homeless as well as a conceptual framework to guide their interventions. This paper attempts to provide an overall picture of the home-less, some basic guidelines for relating to the homeless, indicators for understandin